


The Pride of the King

by John_Malfoy



Category: Fate/Grand Order, Fate/Zero
Genre: Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Fantasy, Gen, Supernatural Elements
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-12
Updated: 2020-08-12
Packaged: 2021-03-06 05:33:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,780
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25858219
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/John_Malfoy/pseuds/John_Malfoy
Summary: At the end of the Fourth Holy Grail War, the only boy who survived the fire was found... by Arturia Pendragon.
Comments: 2
Kudos: 15





	The Pride of the King

beta-reader:  
Mein lieblings Spitz

A night was laved by blood. That night was laved by curse, drown in regret and sorrow. It was lit by the black sun.

Through the shroud of darkness, curses, anger and pain she has broke through with the ease of a Great King. Opened her eyes she has stared up at the darkness that had replaced the crystal moon of a beautiful night, pouring out a black slimy concentrated curse that killed everything it has had touched. People, plants, trees, grass, earth and inanimate objects were all burned, leaving behind mud, fire and ash.

Nothing will grow on this land for many years to come and any person will feel something disturbing on it. But right now, she didn't care. The Servant, the last survivor of this brutal War, rose to her feet and looked around.

All around her there was devastation as far away as she could see. The flame has roared so hard and loud that it became difficult to think, forcing to feel this murderous atmosphere. In the air there was the smell of fresh death. A seasoned warrior, a King, she was used to the smell. The smell of burning human flesh, mixed with black smoke, soot and the distant moans of people torment of whose could surpass any punishment in hell. No matter how seasoned a warrior Arthuria Pendragon was, she couldn't control herself now. She could pass with dignity through battles in which her loyal vassals and the enemy's soldiers, were killed, but this picture, the bodies that appeared as a result of her actions. The bodies of innocent people. She was the cause of hell on the earth. Again. Her stomach was ready to expel its contents, but it was empty. If it had been different, she would have been on her knees, spewing her guts out, but it didn't happen.

She wrapped her arms around herself, covering her bare breasts, even though there was no one to look at her. But it wasn't a sense of shame. Now that she had seen the consequences of her choice, of this war, fear and horror, guilt had filled her threatening to drive her madness at any moment.

"Is it… all of this… is it _my_ fault?"

A smile crept over her face, but there was no humor in it. Only despair. Incomprehension. Unwillingness to realize the obvious things — what she sees with her own eyes. What she did with her own hands.

"I… Can't…"

Her hands had dropped to her sides. King Arthuria looked around in panic.

" **Right… You can't… Drop your hands… Drop your will ... Leave your desires… You're not capable to anything… There's nothing you can do…"**

For a moment, she felt emptiness. A void that threatened to take her completely and leave nothing inside to help her fight or resist. She shivered all over and breathed deeply, every now and then painfully wincing. Almost all of her human body ached and the feeling was very unpleasant. Long ago she had lost the habit of feeling pain.

" **That's right… This sin is not for your shoulders… Can't bear… Can't protect… Surrender… GIvEupThRowaWaydiediE** _ **DIE**_ **"**

Arthuria closed her eyes for a moment and raised her trembling hands to her face, then slapped her cheeks so hard that there red marks remained and tears of pain start to wet her eyes. Then she clenched her fingers into a fist and lowered her hands. Blood dripped to the ground, but the woman paid no attention.

"Me? Throw away the vow I've made? To die? Or even… _Give up_? You dare ask me to _surrender_? Drop the goals I've lived for? The goals I've fought for? Funny… How dare you…"

She banished the voice from her mind that had tried to persuade her to drop everything she believed in by force and with a short cry she materialized on her clothes. Having gained flesh and blood, she did not lose her Mana and did not lose access to her equipment. The wounds on her palms had slowly healed under the impact of the Prana as if they had never been there, but Arthuria felt her total Mana level decrease. That was the downside of her returning to life on earth.

But that won't stop her, no, she won't just let it go. She couldn't give up everything she believed in, the path she was following. The faded light in her eyes shone with a new intensity, exuding a smooth glow, the shade of freshly mown grass that had inspired her loyal knights during their lifetime and did not allow them to be intimidated by the enemy.

Slowly and decisively, she took her first steps through the hell that had been her companion in life. Carefully looking around, feel the beat of life, will and strength that will not give up at least someone in this blazing chaos. She threw away heavy boulders, and sometimes she broke through the flames, walking meter by meter, looking at the burned bodies around her. Those who can no longer be helped, those whose end came through her fault. All this primeval element that had been raging around her suddenly ceased to matter in the face of the fear that she would find no one else here. That she was the only one who survived this hell.

It wasn't the first time she'd felt this way. The pain of loss that stabbed into her heart when she saw the settlements of her people burned by the enemy could be compared to what she felt now, but only in a small way. Although she could not show her emotions then, the ocean of pain that burned her body like fire from within showed her where and how wrong she was. Now, the same feeling came over again, and she could not help screaming, crying in helplessness, but she had no right to stop and turn back.

"Really… Really no one… Again…"

It was impossible to count the number of people who had given their souls to God that she had met while searching for the living ones. She worried, overcame herself to take another step. Her heart was broken, but she couldn't help them. She couldn't bring their souls back and all she could do was mentally apologize to them for what she had personally done.

So, she would have gone on, if not for the faint sound of coughing nearby, which Arthuria rushed like a thirsty man to the well. She paused in the rubble and wood splinters that had once been a house and listened. The coughing and wheezing came again and the woman quickly cleared the rubble and found a very small boy about six years old with red hair.

The boy stared up at the black sun, which was probably permanently imprinted on his mind. Reaching out to this source of curses and evil, without knowing why, he tried to make a fist, but failed. The strength to move was leaving him, and his arm began to fall back. And then he was caught by small female hands, with firm pads of fingers. The boy, trying desperately to stay conscious, looked down from the sky at the woman, tears streaming down her cheeks. Unknown to the boy, the woman in front of him, who was smiling happily, finally crying freely. Perhaps for the first time in her life, she let her emotions run wild, bringing out everything that had been hidden for years. It was hidden inside, for it was not permissible to let it out to the judgment of her people. But now that she had seen this child, none of that mattered. The tears flowed without stopping, refusing to listen to the woman on her knees. The tears of sorrow that had trickled down her cheeks earlier turned into a joy that not only flooded the woman's heart, but seemed to bring life back to the eyes of the boy in her arms.

"Alive… Great God, you are alive…"

"You… ha… who are you…" the boy coughed, but the woman shook her head and pressed his palm to her own cheek.

"Thank You… God… Thank you for making him live…"

Feeling the hot tears of his rescuer on his hand, the boy whose name would become "Shiro" for the first time in a long, long evening, felt something quite different from detachment and despair looking into the bright, luminous green eyes.

He felt _Hope_.

Only much later, when the child was in the hospital, the woman made the most important decision in her new life. A decision that forever changed the lives of two souls who found each other in the midst of hell, like rays of light, forming a small sun that will forever shine on the people of this world.

The priest who was supposed to be dead greeted the former Servant with ordinary words. His "rejoice" prompted the woman to tear off his head, but she restrained herself, knowing that only he could provide her with a new life. The new documents were made in a couple of days. He also provided her with a living and helped with the adoption of a child, which Arthuria did not leave for a second. And if she had to, she could barely get her body to move. She often found herself thinking that these might be feelings that the mother felt for her child, for she herself had never shown such emotions. Whether it was a blessing or a punishment, she did not know, but she was immensely grateful that she had been brought together with this child. The day when she invited the boy to become a part of her life, to take the place of her son, was the happiest day in her life. She couldn't hold back the tears when he said "yes". To Arthuria's surprise, the injuries were not serious and healed fairly quickly. She couldn't call it anything but a blessing and God's protection.

And as soon as the boy got back on his feet, the young family went to the homeland of Arthuria, to Great Britain, to live there happy years dedicated to training and caring for a guy who was destined to grow up to be a handsome man, who took over the dreams and aspirations of his mother… And ten years later to come back after the woman felt the familiar and at the same time frightening emanations of power from a faraway country. From a small town that captured a picture of burning hell forever...

But that would be another story. The story of a boy who will definitely become a hero!


End file.
